Fleshing tool



Dec. 7, 1948.

`A. c. LAMY FLESHING TOOL Filed Dec. 20, 1947 Patented Dec. 7, 1948 UNITED STATES :OFFICE I 2,455,505 FLESHING; I'rooL Arthur C. Lamy,Mi1waukee,lWis. i Application December 20, 1947; Serial:N`o.':792,92.6

. 3. Claims.

This invention relates to improvements in fleshingtools.

In the fur and leatherrindustriesffone,of the required operations is lthat, oftfl'eshing. Flesh'- ing involves the removal. from aH hide or pelt of loose iiesh,. cellular tissue'and other like matter. This operation is usually performed While the hidev or pelt isstretched .over atapered .post or stretcher. 'The most common. tool with which the .but none has produced thehopedfor result.

5.111 ieshing a hide .or pelt.. particularly. when ,operating on the hides of A valuable fur, `vbearing animals suchv as mink, it isofrutmost importance that the operation be performed Without cutting or tearing the same and Without shaving off portions of the hide or pelt itself to objectionably reduce the thickness thereof Any impairment of the hides is to be avoided because of the marked depreciation in value which results. None of the instruments so far used has effected any substantial reduction in the amount of damage resulting from a eshing operation.

It is therefore a general object of this invention to provide an improved fleshing tool the use of Which practically eliminates any danger of cutting, tearing or shaving 01T portions of the hide or pelt.

A further object of the invention is to effect a very substantial saving to the producer by reducing the number of rejects in pelts and hides which normally result from tearing, cutting or shaving off porti-ons of the same during the iieshing operation.

A further object of the invention is to provide a fieshing tool, the hide or pelt engaging portion of which is of novel construction to speed up the fleshing operation.

A further object of the invention is to provide a eshing tool which has no cutting blade and whi-ch therefore requires no sharpening.

A more speciiic object of the invention is to provide a eshing tool including a Wire of relatively small gauge mounted under tension in a suitable portable frame, the latter being contion;

- tool;

striloted to permitfmaintainingfthe desired tension.

`With, the above andy other objects in viewf, the Vinvention consists-V Of the. improved deshing tool .and allofits parts,andcombinationsfas set forth in,A the. claims, land a11=equivalentsthereof.

r :In the accompanying i drawings villustrating 1011@ 'completeamboCliment` of the preferred Lform4 of the; invention; 1in. which-tha samereference y. numerals. designate, :therA samexpar-ts in alb of l the viewsz Fig; iis a perspective -view of .a pelt.` mounted onv a: stretcher showing. thetimproved fleshingtool ina-.position for: performing the; noshina opera- Fig. 2 is aplaneviewot theeimprcvedreshing r- Fig. 3:. is anr enlarged fragnmentan!:plan viewiof -theadjus-tmentiend ofthe improved `ileshing:tool.

partfbengwbroken av/'ay and: shown in; section; and

Fig. 4 is an enlarged fragmentary .planiview fof theanchoring endof the tool, .part being .bro-

ken away and. shown in section.

Referring more particularly to the drawing the numeral 5 indicates a generally U-shaped, preferably tubular, metallic frame, there being a reinforcing bar 6 connecting the two arms 1 and 8 of the frame 5 adjacent the outer ends thereof. The outer end of the arm 1 is internally threaded, as at 9, to receive an adjusting bolt Ill. The adjusting bolt I0 is formed with an aperture II extending diametrically therethrough adjacent the head end thereof. Threadedly engaging the shank of the adjusting bolt I 0 is a lock nut I2 which is adapted to lock the bolt I0 in any desired position relative to the arm 1. The outer end of the arm 8 is internally threaded, as at I3, to receive an anchor bolt I4 mounted therein.

A wire I5 of relatively small diameter is anchored at one end in any suitable manner around the anchor bolt I4. The other end of the Wire I5` is extended through the aperture Il in the bolt I0, and is bent around the bolt I0 one or more turns and anchored in any suitable manner thereto. The Wire I5 is placed under tension by turning the adjusting bolt I0, and When the desired tension is created in the Wire I5, the bolt i0 is locked in position by means of the lock nut I2.

Experience has shown that a wire such as that commonly known as piano Wire, having a diameter of approximately .048 inch gives the best results for most purposes. The tension under Which the Wire I5 must .be kept to produce the 3 best results has been found to be that which results in the yperiod of vibration which creates the note of high C when the wire is plucked.

It is to be noted that the frame .or holder for the wire must be so constructed as to make it possible to create and maintain tension in the Wire by locating the relatively strong reinforcing bar 6 relatively `close to the ends of the arms 'l and 8 so that the arms are so braced that they cannot be deflected toward one another when the adjustment nut l is tightened. On the other hand, the brace 6 is located a sufcient distance lnwardly from the wire so as not to interfere with the eshing operation. Other equivalent means may be utilized but it is necessary that the arms of the frame be strongly braced against inward movement in a manner which will not make the frame unduly heavy to tire the user.

In use, the hide or pelt I6 is stretched over a post or stretcher l1 with the flesh side outwardly. The bits of flesh, cellular tissue and like undesirable matter may be removed by merely drawing the tightly tensioned wire I5 of the improved fleshing tool over the flesh side of the hide or pelt I6 in the manner shown iny Fig. 1. There being no sharp elges 4on the wire l5 to cut the fur, this objectionable feature of the conventional fleshing tool is eliminated. Noris there any danger of shavingoi portions of the hide or pelt, thereby creating thin spots which, together with cuts and tears, greatly depreciates the value of a hide or pelt. In addition to preservingthe value of the skins and reducing the number of rejects, the improved eshing tool makes it possible to perform the eshing operation much more expeditiously than heretofore.

Various changes and modiiicatons may be made without departing from the spirit of the invention, and all of such changes are contemplated as may come within the scope of the claims.

What I claim is:

1. A'eshing tool comprising an extent of wire, a U-shaped frame having spaced arms, means for connecting one end of the wire to one of said arms, a bolt threaded in the other of said arms, means on said bolt to which the other end of the wire may Ibe connected so that when the bolt is turned the Wire is placed under tension, means for releasably locking the bolt in tension applying condition, and a reinforcing bar extending from one of said arms to the other and located sufciently close to the outer ends of the arms to prevent inward deection of the arms when the wire is under tension. l 2. A eshing tool comprising an extent of wire, a U-shaped frame having spaced arms, means for connecting one end of the wire to the end of one of said arms, a bolt threaded axially into the end of the other arm, means on said bolt to which the other end of the wire may be connected so that when the bolt is turned inwardly the Wire is placed under tension, and a lock nut on said bolt for releasably locking the bolt in tension applying condition.

3. A eshing tool comprising an extent of wire, a U-shaped frame having spaced'arms, means for connecting one end of the Wire to the end of oneof said arms, a bolt threaded axially into the end of the other arm and having a hole through which the other end of the wire may be threaded so that when the :bolt is turned inwardly the wire is placed under tension, and a lock nut on said bolt for releasably locking the bolt in tension applying condition.

ARTHUR C. LAMY.

, REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the le of this patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS y Fitzgerald Sept. 21, `1937 

